LETTER: Take steps to stop repeat of Newtown

Six months ago a gunman armed with an arsenal of military-styled assault weapons with high-capacity magazines walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and gunned down 20 students and six adults including their teachers.

Even though the vast majority of Tennesseans voiced the will to enact legislation to expand background checks in the aftermath of that tragedy, our lawmakers in Tennessee shamefully ignored their bipartisan constituents and failed to act. They need to know that we have not forgotten and we are not going away. The voice of the people will be heard.

For those of us who feel we are not being heard, we can join any of the growing number of grassroots organizations that are championing common-sense solutions to the epidemic of gun violence in our country. They are taking on the NRA and the powerful gun lobby that has held our Congress hostage for more than a generation, and these groups are determined to win. It is only a matter of time.

For starters, here is a short list of "organizations against gun violence:" Americans for Responsible Solutions (formed by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords with her husband Astronaut Mark Kelly); the Brady Campaign; Gun Free Dining Tennessee; Moms Demand Action; Mayors Against Illegal Guns; and Organizing for Action (the successor organization to our president's re-election campaign). Already OFA has delivered a petition to Congress with 1.4 million signatures.

None of these groups are advocating taking away our Second Amendment rights or establishing a gun registry. That's the NRA message meant to instill fear. Legislating universal background checks to prevent felons and mentally ill people from buying guns is a first step. Next we need to remove the limitations on collecting data and conducting scientific research on gun violence. Does owning a gun really make us safer? And finally we need some real conversation on why the most lethal rapid-fire, high-capacity military weapons, like the ones turned on the children at Sandy Hook, are bought and sold in a civil society.

For an immediate impact, our senators need to bring up Gun Violence Prevention for another vote and pass the Manchin-Toomey compromise to close background check loopholes. I, for one, will be doing everything in my power to make sure our legislators in the pockets of the gun lobby, those who favor guns over the lives of our children, and who shamefully refuse to vote "yes" for common-sense changes in gun legislation that will save lives, will not be re-elected.

Bonnie Tinsley

Haynes Drive

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LETTER: Take steps to stop repeat of Newtown

Six months ago a gunman armed with an arsenal of military-styled assault weapons with high-capacity magazines walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and gunned down 20 students